Help building a 600$ rig

[Effektz]

Hello I'm building a PC for my brother so he can do homework and play a little bit of games on it.

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.

Starcraft II, Diablo III, word processing

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread

600~700$

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.

Canada (NCIX)

4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc.

Intel, nVidia,

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.

keyboard, mouse, monitor, speaker

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
Default

8. What resolution will you be using?

1080p

9. WHEN do you plan to build it?
Note that it is usually not cost or time effective to choose your build more than a month before you actually plan to be using it.

As soon as I know my build

If possible I'd like to use Bitfenix Prodigy case @79.99 (Yes mITX form factor)
I wanted to get Asus P8Z77-I @189.99$ but it's quite expensive. I already have a couple things in mind like 8GB Kingston Hyper X @39.99, Western Digital 1TB@79.99

 

[T_Yamamoto]

You're doing stock speeds. No point for a z77. I'd go with a cheap h61 its mobo

 

[postmortemIA]

You're doing stock speeds. No point for a z77. I'd go with a cheap h61 its mobo

or H77
H77 + fastest per clock i5 should be winning combo.

 

[lehtv]

B75 is better value than H77 while still retaining USB3.0, SATA6gb/s and Ivy compatibility

 

[mfenn]

Do you need a Windows license? I'll aim for $600 just in case. Also, is ITX a hard requirement? $600 is pushing it for a gaming-capable build as it is, and ITX components just further take away from the main components.

ITX:
i3 2120 $120
ASUS P8H61-I $82
Kingston DDR3 1600 8GB $40 AP
7770 $120 AR
WD Blue 1TB $80 AP
LG DVD Burner $25
Corsair 500CXV2 $50
Bitfenix Prodigy $80
Total: $597 AR AP

ATX:
i3 2120 $120
GA-B75M-D3H $70
Kingston DDR3 1600 8GB $40 AP
6870 $155 AR
WD Blue 1TB $80 AP
LG DVD Burner $25
Corsair 500CXV2 $50
Bitfenix Merc Beta $40
Total: $580 AR AP

So, the question for you and your brother is whether or not the smaller size is worth giving up 20-50% of the system's gaming performance.

 

[Effektz]

No I don't need a copy of windows, I have one already. If not mITX, mATX would be good too I was looking at the Fractal Design Arc Mini
To be honest, I wouldn't mind going a bit over 600$~700$ is still acceptable.

 

[Effektz]

If I change my budget to 1000$ and keep the ITX form factor, is this build any good to OC?

Kingston HyperX 8GB 2X4GB $39.99
Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB $79.99
ASUS DRW-24B1ST 24X SATA DVD Writer $18.99
Intel Core i5 3570K $219.99
Bitfenix Prodigy $79.99
EVGA GeForce GTX 570 $239.99 (219.99$ After MIR)
OCZ ModXStream Pro 700w $78.88 (48.88$ After MIR)
ASUS P8Z77-I Deluxe $189.99
Intel 330 Series 120GB $109.99
Corsair Cooling Hydro Series H60 High Performance CPU Cooler $61.99

1070$ AR

 

[lehtv]

Why would you want to OC a mini-ITX build? Also that's a $1100 build... You don't need a $190 motherboard or a $62 cooler... Also the memory you picked is 1.65V

NVIDIA isn't competitive at sub $400 prices because they have no 28nm cards to compete with 7850, 7870 and 7950. You should either go with one of those or wait 660 Ti or get a 670.

Let's see:

$1000 mini-ITX build no OC

Asus P8H77-I $99
i5-3570K $220 (3550 is the same price...) or i5-3450 $200
2x4GB G.Skill Ripjaws 1600 $45
MSI 7950 Twin Frozr II $290 AR (compare to 570 at stock; note power consumption)
Intel 330 120GB $102
Seagate ST1000DM0003 $80
Asus DVDRW $20
PCP&C MK III 500W $58 AR
Bitfenix Prodigy $80

= $994 AR ($974 AR with i5-3450)

$1000 ATX build with OC to 4.2-4.4

Change mobo to Asrock Z77 Pro3 $100 AR
Change case to Antec 302 $60 AR
Add CPU cooler Hyper 212 Evo $35

= $1010 AR

 

[Effektz]

May I ask why AsRock Z77 Pro 3? I've never used AsRock so I am skeptical about this brand. I'm a big asus fan. Why an AsRock over a let's say P8Z77

 

[lehtv]

Which Asrock versus which P8Z77?

As far as features and functionality is concerned, Asus tends to be slightly more packed and 'high end'. That's mainly true with their near-$200 boards though, e.g. compare P8Z77-V with WiFi and Intel network controllers to Asrock Z77 Extreme6. However, their lowest end Z77 board, the P8Z77-V LX, has pretty much the same set of features as Asrock Z77 Pro3 but costs $30-40 more. So in the lower end, Asrock is more budget/value oriented.

I don't have any reason to believe there's any difference between the two in terms of reliability. They offer 3 year warranty just like everyone else. People have been buying Asrock boards for years now and been happy with them too. The reason they cost less is probably partly to do with material costs - the Z77 Pro3, Z77 Pro4 and Z77 Extreme4 are all slightly smaller (narrower) than your standard ATX board. It's also possible that Asrock has smaller profit margins but compensates by selling more boards due to the lower cost. Whatever it is that makes their boards less expensive isn't evidently making them less reliable, that I know of.

 

[mfenn]

I don't have any reason to believe there's any difference between the two in terms of reliability. They offer 3 year warranty just like everyone else. People have been buying Asrock boards for years now and been happy with them too. The reason they cost less is probably partly to do with material costs - the Z77 Pro3, Z77 Pro4 and Z77 Extreme4 are all slightly smaller (narrower) than your standard ATX board. It's also possible that Asrock has smaller profit margins but compensates by selling more boards due to the lower cost. Whatever it is that makes their boards less expensive isn't evidently making them less reliable, that I know of.

I think what it mainly comes down to is that ASRock is a younger, hungrier company than ASUS and they're willing to accept slightly less margin than ASUS is. They're building their brand right now and can't afford to charge more than the established brands. I agree that the boards are all top notch in terms of quality and value.

Nice builds above by the way.